


Freebies: Back to the Beginning

by DarkElements10



Series: Taiyama Week 2018 [10]
Category: Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Digital World, Gen, Post-Digimon Adventure tri., Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 12:23:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkElements10/pseuds/DarkElements10
Summary: [TaiYama Week 2018; Day 14] Camping was always an excuse made for a trip to the Digital World. Or just some alone time to reflect on their latest Digimon adventure.





	Freebies: Back to the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on tumblr (you can find the username in the bio).
> 
> ~Rhuben

**By: Rhuben**

This wasn’t the first time that the Chosen Children had used camping as an excuse to get away from everyone for a while. The last time it was done, it wasn’t for the best reasons. Locating the base of the Digimon Kaiser was top priority and the younger set of the Chosen Children needed all the time they could get to succeed.

Only this time, things were ok.

There were no Digimon threats around the city.

No distortions.

And no Dark Gennai.

It was just going to be a day filled with fun, peace, and rejoicing in the return of the Digimon’s memories. What better place to do so, then to go back to where they had first started their journey into the Digital World.

“I always told myself I wasn’t going to come back to this camp.” Jou was the first person to talk, breaking the silence they had all found themselves in as soon as they had arrived. Gomamon yawned, snuggling into his side. A small smile graced Jou’s features, and he started to run his fingers through his partner’s white fur.

“Aww, you’re just missing your girlfriend, huh?” Mimi asked with a sly smile. For the first time in a long while, her pink cowboy hat had made a return, and was perched over Palmon’s head. Jou’s face turned a bright red, but he didn’t say anything. “That’s too sweet, Jou.”

Snickers went around the group. Still, none of them had even met Jou’s girlfriend. Not even Gomamon had been able to get a glimpse of her. Leaving her was not as much of a shock as it was that he was ready and willing to come along, pulling him from his never-ending studies.

Even Koushiro took time away from his studies of what had transpired to come along. Of course, he did bring his computer just in case they wanted to go through to the Digital World. Seeing him without constant dark circles under his eyes was refreshing, but it would still take some time to get used to him without so much of a laptop sitting on his lap. Tentomon hovered protectively over the group, patrolling the area with Patamon who was enjoying the chance to stretching his wings – er, ears.

Mimi, Takeru, Hikari, and Sora were all barefoot, stretched out on the grass, eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine. They could all finally relax. No more hiding Digimon. No more having to keep them a secret and try and hide their involvement with the media. Just a few days to reflect, and to deepen their bonds with their best friends.

Still, Taichi felt some lingering tension in his shoulders and needed to really make sure everything was ok. Lowering his old telescope from his eye, he used his free hand to massage his muscles.

“Relax.”

Pressing his back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in to balance himself, Taichi angled his head downwards and peered down at the mop of blonde hair that was Yamato. Arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed, Yamato’s chest slowly lifted and fell. On one side of him, Augumon munched through a meat bun, on the other, Gabumon sat quietly, looking over the landscape.

Opening one eye, Yamato looked up at Taichi, locking eyes with him.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” he said.

“Just checking.”

“You’re always checking.”

Taichi chuckled. “First you wanted me to just get on with fighting,” he commented, “and now you want me to ‘relax’.” Yamato muttered something under his breath. “You can never be too careful.”

“Ok, Jou.”

Taichi nearly fell out of the tree at the remark. “Hey!” He grabbed a leaf from the branch stretching down towards him and plucked it from the tree. Frowning, he let it go and watched as it floated down, skimming past Yamato’s nose. “I’m not as bad as Jou.”

“Whatever you say, Jou.”

Growling, Taichi slid his telescope into his pocket and proceeded to climb down the tree. Dropping down beside Yamato, he grabbed a handful of grass and whipped it at his friend. “I’m not.”

Yamato smirked as Taichi moved to sit back against the tree trunk. A moment later, it was gone. “You’ve changed,” he commented.

“You haven’t,” Taichi said with a snort. “I mean you have, but you haven’t.” Yamato made a noise in the back of his throat. “Thanks.”

“Hm?”

“Everything just changed so much,” Taichi replied. He looked over at Agumon who was chewing his last bite happily, rubbing his stomach. “Well, maybe not everything.” He chuckled and rubbed the top of Agumon’s head. “But you never did. You can still back me up and call me out all at the same time.” He smiled. “You’re still a pain in the butt.”

“And you finally stopped charging head first into things,” Yamato said.

“No, I just started thinking about other people.” Yamato hummed. “The Digital World was different, we didn’t have anyone else to think about. Just ourselves. And our Digimon, of course.” Agumon and Gabumon, who suddenly looked offended, seemed mollified in his answer.

“We faced Digimon in the real world before,” Yamato reminded him.

“I know,” Taichi replied. “But this time was just different. It was easier back then.”

“Did you ever finish Daigo’s assignment?”

Taichi’s stomach clenched. The Digital World was just data, right? Nothing that happened to them there would affect them in the real world. At least, that’s what he had thought. He had only seen Digimon destroyed in the Digital World and they always had the chance of returning in a Digi Egg. But, Daigo…

“He mentioned something about languages,” Taichi replied. “I don’t know. I just told him that I had a friend from far away I didn’t get to see as often.” He smiled at Agumon. “Not until now, anyway.”

_He who fights monsters, should be careful that he does not become a monster himself._

Taichi snorted. It had been a taunting comment from Dark Gennai, but he didn’t know just how truthful he was being. He had never forgotten how he had treated Agumon back in the day. How he had forced him to Dark Digivolve in to SkullGreymon. It all had just gone to his head. With his crest, he knew that Agumon was even more powerful than before. He could take down anyone that was in his way. As a result, SkullGreymon had turned on him. And his friends. He had damaged so much, scared everybody. Still, no one had blamed him for what happened.

Tai only blamed himself. Just like he blamed himself for the city being destroyed when trying to fight against the Kuwagamon. Once again, he tried to fight by himself, and things didn’t turn out the way he thought it would. Only more was at stake. If he didn’t start thinking about everything around him, people would seriously have gotten hurt.

While Daigo had come to mind more and more often, he hadn’t put much more thought into what his future held for him. Except for good grades.

_Go build the future. Dream big._

How was he expected to do anything worthwhile if he didn’t have the education to back it up. Tests were no longer something he studied for at the last minute. Homework assignments were done on time. Even on occasion, he would raise his hand to answer questions in class. And he had even, maybe, considered going to prep-school for more classes. What he ultimately wanted to do with his life, he wasn’t sure yet. But, he knew that he didn’t want to go so long without seeing Agumon again. He could only dream that Izzy would be successful in finding a way to access a clear path to the Digital World.

Someday.

“What did he say about you?”

Yamato hesitated for a moment. “It was just a list of future goals, right?” he asked. “Keep friendships, spend more time with Takeru and my family, stay on top of my music, that kind of thing.” He shrugged. “You don’t think I’m creative, but…I don’t know, I guess music is a creative thing.”

“That’s it?”

“He said I was more of a big-picture thinker and should expand my horizons a bit more.” Yamato dug through his pocket and retrieved his harmonica. “I said, ‘You mean like space?’ I wasn’t exactly being serious. I don’t know. It’s an idea. Going to the Digital World had me thinking.”

“About what?”

“We never even knew a place like the Digital World existed until we went,” he explained. He tossed his harmonica back and forth in his hand. “How many more places out there do we not know about?”

Taichi hummed.

“Like I said, it’s just an idea.” With that, he lifted his harmonica to his mouth and started gently blowing through it, playing a song that Taichi hadn’t heard in ages.

Only this time, he couldn’t help but smile. They weren’t saying goodbye to the Digimon this time. They didn’t have to. Things were different this time. And Taichi knew he could face it head on with his friends by his side.

Taichi started tapping his knees to the beat of the song. Or trying to find the beat. The corners of Yamato’s lips lifted as he shifted from one tempo to the next, trying to see if Taichi would keep up with him. A squeak erupted from the harmonica when he started to laugh, excess air pushing through the holes. Laughing with him, Taichi gave up, settling back against the tree. Yamato lowered his harmonica from his lips, his laughter dying shortly afterwards.

“When you were gone,” he said, “trapped down there with Daigo, it was hard. I know we all look towards you for direction but, it wasn’t the same without you there.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but kept his mouth shut.

“You did a good job.” It wasn’t the first time Taichi had left the group, but this time the team hadn’t fallen apart. Yamato had stepped up. There was no way they would have had a fighting chance against Meicoomon if he hadn’t.

It was a tough decision to destroy her – in the real world, there wasn’t an option for her to be reborn – but he had concluded that even the toughest decisions were the only answers to situations like that. He was sure life was full of them. But, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to experiencing them any time in the future.

“Thanks.”

“But, you looked stupid in my goggles.”

“Not any more stupid than you usually do.”

“Oh, you just think you’re so cool.”

Yamato chuckled. He sighed through his nose. “We’re still here,” he said quietly. “After everything that happened, it should count for something.”

“It does.” Taichi looked down at Agumon who was now sleeping, before locking eyes with Yamato. “Thanks for not running off this time.”

Yamato’s cheeks turned a light pink. “Thanks for coming back.”

“Always.”

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun doing these. Digimon will always hold a special place in my heart. I’m excited to see what this new project after Tri is that they had teased a little while back. I had a lot of fun for my first go-around. 
> 
> -Rhuben


End file.
